Triple Monitor Usefulness? A (small) Nvidia surround review/opinions

[xToFxREAPER]

In recent months ive noticed this to be a huge topic of debate among our forum users, Youtube comments sections in some of the reviews featuring triple monitor setups and just around the web in general. Most people will say that triple monitors are totally useless, its all for show, its cause you have a tiny *coughcough* but really.. Does it have it a use? As an owner of a triple monitor setup i figured i would share my thoughts for those of you out there that are wondering what its like, Pros and cons, Does it have any use in a gaming scenario? and some of the general questions i get asked on a daily basis

 

My initial thoughts

I had seen such setups all over the web, I was using dual monitors at the time and loved having the screen real estate on a productivity level, After a few months of dual monitor usage i had decided that i wanted more. Upon first setting up my third monitor i was somewhat in awe, It took up a HUGE amount of desk space which thankfully i had plenty to spare. It made for quite a striking sight. Upon first start up I set up nvidia surround (more on this soon) And found myself a nice triple monitor wallpaper to tie it all together.

 

Setting up Nvidia Surround

This, In my opinion is one of the biggest drawbacks to a triple monitor display. Nvidia surround is seriously picky about which monitors are plugged in where when you are running a multi gpu system which, If your trying to power a multi display setup you are probably running sli. After using some google-fu to track down a decent guide i got them all plugged in the way i needed. Once thats done its all pretty simple, You simply click span displays with surround, Next it will bring up a new screen showing you that all three monitors are plugged in. Youll want to click apply here, The screens will flicker a few times and then they will all be on however, in most cases they will not be in the correct order so you will want to match up the display number order shown in the window to the identifying number that should be showing up on your screen. The final (and admittedly option step) is to set up your bezel correction. This for those that dont know essentially creates a custom resolution that is slightly wider so that certain game elements line up more realistically by "hiding" a portion of the image inside the bezel. Its like when you look through a window with a design, frosted glass etc, Whatever is behind that one spot of the window is hidden and yet, you know its still there.

 

The look and feel of it

Sitting at the desk top you dont notice anything special, at the desktop it will behave exactly as though you just plugged the monitors in and thats it except for one major difference, If you right click and open screen resolution, Rather then showing three separate screens it will display it as been one very large screen. in general day to day use you wont notice anything major but there are a few flaws. One big drawback is youtube, If you want to watch a youtube video in full screen it will fill all three monitors. the left and right will just be black unless your watching a video recorded and uploaded in a native triple screen resolution (Yes they do exist, For triple monitor users out there that want to see a video here you go) in which case it will play on all three monitors. There is the odd game that has trouble supporting in which case (this is a very rare one) you will need to disable it all together.

 

Gaming!

 

Fps

This is one that bothers me most. Ive seen a ton of people say this boosted their K/D in CoD, Battlefield, Titanfall what have you while i see others say the opposite. This one depends the most on the person, Whether they will give it a bit of time to adjust to how differently it handles, Whether its something they can play with, whether their system can keep a high enough frame rate and so many other variables. Personally In battlefield 4, it hurt my stats for the first few days. Everything about it made the game feel very different. i had a habit of looking at the side monitors which would disorient me terribly because they are very skewed. After a few days of getting use to how it handled and breaking the habit of looking at the side monitors and moving my mouse my game improved a lot over just using a single monitor. some people cant handle it at all for example, I had a friend staying with me for about a month. He would use my system while i was gone to work and no matter how much he played with it and broke the bad habits, he just couldnt keep his K/D's up with this setup. In terms of story games such as bioshock infinite its a phenomenal experience. Flying around on the skyrails is an outstanding experience like no other and when you have a full 5.1 surround to go along with it theres nothing else like it (except maybe vr)

 

Rpg/MMO

Now this is where a triple monitor setup will really shine. I started playing mmo's for the first time ever a few months back, I tried out wow and had decided i didnt really care for it. I gave Final Fantasy XIV A realm reborn a try and i love it. You can organize your hud In just about any way you could ever want to (you can in wow as well just not nearly as easily) I havent had the chance to test the support on other mmo's like archage yet but i plan to very soon. Now what makes this setup shine on triple monitors you ask? Well how about 1 full screen dedicated to a constantly updating map allowing you to totally take the mini map off your main (center) screen thus freeing up a bunch of space there, Then another screen dedicated to things like quest logs, Hunting logs (class based challenges in ffxiv), Inventory etc. Personally i love having my hunting log up mainly, I have yet to miss hunting a single creature as yet thanks to being able to glance it at all times and knowing how close i am to the next rank gives me a drive to keep grinding it out like no other game can. Seeing those quest rewards, Hunting rewards, Waypoints, New areas to discover and so many other things on screen all the time just gives me a drive to keep going that just isnt there otherwise. I closed it all and ran the game on a single screen for a while and although i still enjoyed the game a ton, I noticed that i wasnt as excited to explore or a new area or complete a quest.

 

Now i know there are a lot more genres out there, srpg, adventure, jrpg and soooo many more.  I would be here for months if i covered them all so instead i only covered the two i felt were most important and most played. If you want to know about more drop a comment or shoot me a message i would be happy to help out.

 

Who is this kind of thing for?

This is a very unique kind of experience and setup that requires a bit of know how. Some games wont support it without some research and tweaks, some wont support it at all while others run it as though it were built to do it. realistically unless your someone with a powerful system that wants to refresh their gaming experience then this might not be for you. If your an avid player of mmo's (which im quickly becoming one myself the more i learn about them) and you have the system to run it then this setup is something i would not hesitate to recommend. You have every single thing you could ever need already in front of you in most cases and if you lay everything out just right it makes your entire mmo experience much MUCH smoother and more enjoyable. Who else would i recommend something like this for? Content creators hands down, It makes things worlds easier for sure, Especially those that like to create mods for skyrim and other such games. Someone who tends to have 10+ tabs open on their browser? Yeah i would say it makes browsing the web a fair bit easier to. Youtube and facebook on one screen, Email forums facebook etc on the second and maybe some nice daily news or something on the third.

 

Ok shut up already and sum this up for me!

If youve sat and read all of this, Kudos to you! If not here is the quick and dirty version of it all, From a productivity stand point i would never EVER turn someone away from a triple monitor setup. It makes things worlds easier but on the flip side of things, If your wanting this purely for gaming purposes you may want to think long and hard about this investment. Fps games are very hit and miss on whether it will either improve your game or hinder it, Along those same lines if your an Rpg/MMO player then this is something you may very well want to invest in if your system can handle it. Triple screens in an mmo that can support it (In my case Final Fantasy XIV) is most definitely invaluable, Having my map, Quest log, Hunting log and inventory available for quick glance at all times has been extremely valuable and has made me enjoy the experience of the mmo genre a whole lot more.

 

I hope ive been able to answer some peoples questions. If ive forgotten anything please dont hesitate to ask, I rarely write this kind of thing up so its pretty likely i forgot something or screwed something up

 

A Few Screenshots From Various Games

Ill get more probably this evening, I recently reformatted my system so im short on screen caps at the moment

 

Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn

I need to make a few more tweaks to this particular hud arrangement but its working for now and im to lazy to fix it

 

Skyrim

 

Borderlands 2

 

Black Ops 1 Zombies. Not exactly a screen cap this time, A friend over seas asked me to snap a pic cause he was curious what my monitor setup looked like so i figured i would slap it up here to

 

[Jerakl]

My dream <3

[X1XNobleX1X]

Great review of Nvidia surround. I have been using Nvidia surround for nearly three years now and I love it.

The only real problem is most games still don't support the technology, and if the game doesn't support it. You would have to wait till there is a patch on Flawless Widescreen or Widescreen Fixer. 

 

Oh, and how expensive it is to actually buy a proper surround setup. Three monitors + GPU's (You will always need more than one for surround)

[TheKDub]

Three 1080p or 1440p monitors would be so amazing even if only using one for gaming, it would definitely beat out the single 1050p monitor I'm using right now... (Not that great for gameplay recording and such...

[Ryan Leech]

I find triple monitor gaming to be much more immersive. That being said it can cause motion sickness for some people especially those with vision disorders.

[xToFxREAPER]

My dream <3

  

Great review of Nvidia surround. I have been using Nvidia surround for nearly three years now and I love it.

The only real problem is most games still don't support the technology, and if the game doesn't support it. You would have to wait till there is a patch on Flawless Widescreen or Widescreen Fixer. 

 

Oh, and how expensive it is to actually buy a proper surround setup. Three monitors + GPU's (You will always need more than one for surround)

yes I forgot to factor in cost my bad! It can get pretty pricey not to mention hot. Triple monitors can stress a system pretty hard and if you don't have proper cooling your not going to have a nice time.

[The Crazed Child]

Desk space is the only issue for me, I've got the money for it, but I can't fit 3 24" displays on my desk even if I put my tower on the floor

[xToFxREAPER]

Desk space is the only issue for me, I've got the money for it, but I can't fit 3 24" displays on my desk even if I put my tower on the floor

Yes, Desk space is the big one for a lot of people. I had Purchased a desk with triple displays plus my speakers in mind. It got to ridiculous if i tried to find something that could fit my tower as well

 

[The Crazed Child]

*snip*

Eventually I want to have a multi-monitor setup but I'm planning on using something like this

I'll mount my primary display at the bottom and have my secondary TN panel at the top.

[xToFxREAPER]

Eventually I want to have a multi-monitor setup but I'm planning on using something like this

-snip-

I'll mount my primary display at the bottom and have my secondary TN panel at the top.

Thats a pretty solid choice im planning on this one when i have some money back in the bank, Spent to much on snowboarding gear this year already!

 

 

Has just the right amount of height adjustment for my needs along with any other adjustments i could need

[elkenrod]

Oh, and how expensive it is to actually buy a proper surround setup. Three monitors + GPU's (You will always need more than one for surround)

 

24" 1080p monitors are inexpensive at this point.  In my experience you can run many of the surround-supported games at high settings with a 750ti (Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Titanfall).  More demanding games such as Battlefied 4 you can get away with Medium settings. 

 

It's not the best gaming experience but I only mention this to encourage more people who don't have a ton of money to "try it out".  They can do so using some of their existing hardware in many instances.

[xToFxREAPER]

24" 1080p monitors are inexpensive at this point.  In my experience you can run many of the surround-supported games at high settings with a 750ti (Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Titanfall).  More demanding games such as Battlefied 4 you can get away with Medium settings. 

 

It's not the best gaming experience but I only mention this to encourage more people who don't have a ton of money to "try it out".  They can do so using some of their existing hardware in many instances.

This is a good point as well, When i first got started with my triple screens i was running a single gtx 770, Not the weakest but not the strongest either. I have a friend that ran a few games on a 650ti some time ago.

 

Its nowhere near as far out of reach as people think these days, Maybe for the latest games yes but for what i want to play in a surround setup most people could easily run

[Tacitus]

Very good to read, it's sometimes hard to come across recent reviews or roundups of surround/eyefinity gaming, and this is what I needed! 

 

I'm still split over whether I want to go surround or not - I've just ordered my second monitor which I need for uni work (I used to use two screens and was forced for a while to revert to one). So shortly I'll have two u2414h's and a third would be affordable. On the flipside, a second 970 would be less affordable right now, so it might be a waste of time. Plus, as 4k displays are rapidly dropping in price, the future of 1080p seems somewhat in doubt. I do love the idea of 5760x1080p gaming though, and I mainly play RPGs and I think the extra space would really immerse me in the game more.

 

*sigh* decisions decisions.

[jslane21]

Very nice review!!!!

[xToFxREAPER]

Very good to read, it's sometimes hard to come across recent reviews or roundups of surround/eyefinity gaming, and this is what I needed! 

 

I'm still split over whether I want to go surround or not - I've just ordered my second monitor which I need for uni work (I used to use two screens and was forced for a while to revert to one). So shortly I'll have two u2414h's and a third would be affordable. On the flipside, a second 970 would be less affordable right now, so it might be a waste of time. Plus, as 4k displays are rapidly dropping in price, the future of 1080p seems somewhat in doubt. I do love the idea of 5760x1080p gaming though, and I mainly play RPGs and I think the extra space would really immerse me in the game more.

 

*sigh* decisions decisions.

 

Very nice review!!!!

Thanks! Its tough to stay objective on a topic like this. Either you love it or hate it so to write up a small unbiased review was a lot harder then i thought it would be

[Tacitus]

Thanks! Its tough to stay objective on a topic like this. Either you love it or hate it so to write up a small unbiased review was a lot harder then i thought it would be

 

Just a quick question actually, when you're playing RPGs like Skyrim where your priority is not getting stuff off of the screen (as you're evidently doing with Final Fantasy) how much do you notice the things on the side screens. Have you ever tried to go back to one screen gaming and do you find it restrictive or less immersing?

 

Sorry to bombard you with questions haha.

[Simons]

Personally I have two monitors and of course they are not the same model, but same brand, so i can't use them towards the triple monitor mission.

 

Anyways I love having two monitor and everytime I get about one, it makes me nuts having one..

[xToFxREAPER]

Just a quick question actually, when you're playing RPGs like Skyrim where your priority is not getting stuff off of the screen (as you're evidently doing with Final Fantasy) how much do you notice the things on the side screens. Have you ever tried to go back to one screen gaming and do you find it restrictive or less immersing?

 

Sorry to bombard you with questions haha.

No worries thats why i made this thread, In games like skyrim i very much enjoy it. A lot of games as im sure youve heard others say  the side screens tend to be stretch and look "weird" and a lot of people complain about that. Personally the way i see it is your not really supposed to look at your side screens, They are a peripheral vision and as such the games that have a stretched image seem more realistic. When you see the image in your peripheral vision it looks very natural and in turn less distracting. I find it pretty easy to go back to single monitor gaming on the fly, I will often go from my desk and swap on over to my tv to kick back and relax in bed while still gaming. They are both very different ways to experience a game and i personally really enjoy the triple monitor gaming setups. A lot of people will argue 4k is better and although its beautiful its down to user preference and the experience you want. I just bought the cod black ops complete bundle this afternoon purely so i could play zombies on a triple display setup. I have black ops 2 but those maps are just terrible to say the least lol

[Tacitus]

No worries thats why i made this thread, In games like skyrim i very much enjoy it. A lot of games as im sure youve heard others say  the side screens tend to be stretch and look "weird" and a lot of people complain about that. Personally the way i see it is your not really supposed to look at your side screens, They are a peripheral vision and as such the games that have a stretched image seem more realistic. When you see the image in your peripheral vision it looks very natural and in turn less distracting. I find it pretty easy to go back to single monitor gaming on the fly, I will often go from my desk and swap on over to my tv to kick back and relax in bed while still gaming. They are both very different ways to experience a game and i personally really enjoy the triple monitor gaming setups. A lot of people will argue 4k is better and although its beautiful its down to user preference and the experience you want. I just bought the cod black ops complete bundle this afternoon purely so i could play zombies on a triple display setup. I have black ops 2 but those maps are just terrible to say the least lol

 

Interesting. Some games seem to really lend themselves well to the resolution. Videos of Assassin's Creed IV ship battles for example look great across three screens. Three screens certainly seems more interesting than 1440p or 4k, and the screen space would be really nice too for laying out all my work. How do you find your framerates? When I invest in a second 970 I would imagine we'll get relatively similar results, so might be nice to hear from someone with a comparable setup

 

I'll have to continue mulling it over.

[xToFxREAPER]

Interesting. Some games seem to really lend themselves well to the resolution. Videos of Assassin's Creed IV ship battles for example look great across three screens. Three screens certainly seems more interesting than 1440p or 4k, and the screen space would be really nice too for laying out all my work. How do you find your framerates? When I invest in a second 970 I would imagine we'll get relatively similar results, so might be nice to hear from someone with a comparable setup

 

I'll have to continue mulling it over.

Yes you would have pretty similar frame rates to me, That extra gb of vram would give you an advantage for sure but i guess it depends what you want to play. I was playing far cry 4 this afternoon with anti aliasing off, nvidia fur off cause it tanks your frame rate terribly and everything else maxed and i was hovering right around that 60fps mark with dips depending on what was happening. Bioshock infinite i run right maxed out which is one of my favorite games to play in surround, Something about flying around on the skyrails just makes it a very addicting setup

[Creepz]

24" 1080p monitors are inexpensive at this point.  In my experience you can run many of the surround-supported games at high settings with a 750ti (Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Titanfall).  More demanding games such as Battlefied 4 you can get away with Medium settings. 

 

It's not the best gaming experience but I only mention this to encourage more people who don't have a ton of money to "try it out".  They can do so using some of their existing hardware in many instances.

If it's possible to run ~60 fps on battlefield medium surround with a 750 ti, I would be extremely impressed. Based off the graph below I would expect you would be getting below ubisoft's cinematic experience with that setup.

[elkenrod]

If it's possible to run ~60 fps on battlefield medium surround with a 750 ti, I would be extremely impressed. Based off the graph below I would expect you would be getting below ubisoft's cinematic experience with that setup.

 

 

Definitely not 60fps.  It's around 27 FPS (I played some matches today).  Sorry if I misled anyone, but that sort of performance isn't unreasonable for people who have lower-end hardware.  I play much more Titanfall than BF4, which is much easier to push with an overclocked 750ti @ 5760 x 1080.

[rockking1379]

My dream <3

mine is one over three. back when i was in high school, there was one computer in the programming lab that only i was allowed to use. four monitors, just one row. was great. graduated...had to go down to one (ick), built my desktop freshman year of college now have two...not a day goes by i dont miss having quad monitors. but i dont think one row of four was very optimal for layout. so one over three

[Jerakl]

mine is one over three. back when i was in high school, there was one computer in the programming lab that only i was allowed to use. four monitors, just one row. was great. graduated...had to go down to one (ick), built my desktop freshman year of college now have two...not a day goes by i dont miss having quad monitors. but i dont think one row of four was very optimal for layout. so one over three

It would be awkward having a split point in the middle.

I think 3 in one row would be my limit.

[Deletive]

I'll stick with 2 higher resolution monitors then 3+ lower res monitors. 

For me 3 monitors seems extremely overwhelming for the way I sit.